Originally Posted by LeslieG:
I was a daycare provider for 3 years before I had my first child. Yes, there were plenty of days that I had my patience tested and didn't like my job, but most days I liked what I did and could see myself doing daycare for many years.
After my son was born, I closed my daycare (because we were moving out of state) and took 18 months off of daycare. I was a stay-at-home mom during that time. I think that was hard for me because we were living in a new area (so didn't know many people) and I was dealing with slight postpartum depression.
So when my son was 18 months old, I started up daycare again, and I'm about to hit my 6-month mark of being in business. I really hate it most days!.. and I find it extremely difficult to provide daycare while also being there for my son. I feel sad and guilt because he seems unhappy more often than not during daycare hours. I don't know if it's because I only have younger kids right now (that age group is all I ever get calls for) and he's just not interested in playing with them, or if it's something else.
Ah, I just don't know what to do. I'm tired and crabby all the time, and my son doesn't seem happy either 
How about Advertising for ages 2 to 4 years and offer a mini preschool type environment... your son will have kids his age & they all get to learn together - it doesn't have to be real formal. I don't take older kids, I take under 2's only but I'm an empty nester now also.
When I first started I took older kids in order for my youngest to have playmates but as she grew up, I lowered my ages. (there was 8.5 year gap between her & the next oldest lol). The beauty of this career is you can change it to fit you... now that I'm a grandma, babies are just fine lol